Waitrose: £26.85 (blown out of the water because their cheapest turkey joint was so expensive)

So yes the Co-op is cheaper if you’re buying the whole lot, but suddenly the savings aren’t looking so huge.

Watch out for the individual items

What’s really clear is that the big 4 supermarkets don’t sell the individual items for anywhere near the £20.32 when bought separately in the Co-op.

Individually, every item was available cheaper elsewhere, if you look at the cost per kg. The only exceptions were the Waitrose brussel sprouts at a tiny 2p more per kg, and the Waitrose turkey crown.

Turns out that Aunt Bessie’s parsnips and Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshire puddings are available for £1 a packet on special offer pretty much everywhere else, even Waitrose if you shell out for 3 packets, rather than £1.69 and £1.85 individually at the Co-op.

Ready to roast frozen turkey joints come in at £5 to £7 mark, rather than £10 at the Co-op. OK so they don’t include bacon and stuffing – but a small packet of sage and onion stuffing mix only adds 25p to 30p.

Meanwhile if mint Viennetta is your idea of Christmas heaven, you can easily find the smaller 650ml size for just £1. Even the Co-op itself sells the smaller 650ml vanilla Viennetta for £1!

Heck, you could buy two for £2, stuff your family with a total of 1,300ml Viennetta, and it would still cost less than the £2.49 for 1,000ml version at the Co-op.

Alternatively, if you still want the big 1,000ml box, Waitrose will flog you the vanilla Viennetta version for just £1.75.

Pros and cons of a frozen Christmas dinner

One of the big attractions of the Co-op Christmas meal deal is not just the price, but the saving in time and food waste.

The frozen versions mean you aren’t faffing around peeling potatoes, parsnips and sprouts, making stuffing, whipping up Yorkshire puddings and slaving over a fancy pudding. If there are only one or two for Christmas dinner, you can just cook the quantities you want, with no risk of fresh veg rotting at the back of the fridge.

However, if you swap fresh for frozen, you can save money with the cut price Christmas offers. If you are catering for larger numbers, or reckon you’ll use the extra veg anyway, you can definitely get more for your money than the frozen meal deal.

Christmas veg wars commence!

Bargains on fresh veg for Christmas

Updated 21 December 2017

When I wrote this post, the Christmas veg wars had kicked off with prices as low as 29p a bag.

Then prices were slashed even lower – to just 19p!

In fact, both Lidl and Aldi are selling Christmas veg like parsnips, carrots and brussel sprouts starting at 19p a bag, with ASDA only a penny more at 20p, Sainsbury’s at 25p and Tesco at 29p. Morrisons is doing an offer with a wider range of 8 veg at 50p, but cut to 33p each on a three for a £1 offer. If you’re buying lots of different veg, the 3 for £1 offer from Morrisons brings the total price right down.

Suddenly the frozen veg available in the Co-op meal deal and elsewhere don’t seem such great value. With the frozen versions, it costs £3 to £4 to buy 2.3kg of frozen roast potatoes, frozen parsnips and frozen brussel sprouts.

Switch to fresh veg instead, and you can get a whopping 3.5kg of parsnips, Brussel sprouts, carrots and mini roasts for 76p from Lidl, 4.5kg for 85p from Aldi!

Even if you aren’t feeding the 5,000 for Christmas, those are great veg prices for many more side dishes, soups and potato-based meals.

Lidl

Aldi

Morrisons*

Tesco

ASDA

Sainsbury’s

Co-op

Waitrose

Parsnips 500g

£0.19

£0.19**

£0.50

£0.29

£0.20

£0.25

£0.49

£0.85

Brussel Sprouts 500g

£0.19

£0.19

£0.50

£0.29

£0.20

£0.25

£0.49***

£1.00

Carrots 1kg

£0.19

£0.19

£0.50

£0.29

£0.20

£0.25

£0.49

£0.60

Potatoes 2.5kg

£0.19^

£0.28

£0.50

£0.29

£1.15

£1.50

£1.55^^

£1.25^^

Broccoli 350g

£0.49

£0.19

£0.50

£0.55

£0.20

£0.50

£0.55

£0.56

Swede

£0.40

£0.28

£0.50

£0.75

£0.50

£0.80

£0.90

Leeks 500g

£0.45

£0.50

£1.00

£1.00

£1.00

£1.15

Savoy cabbage

£0.63

£0.50

£0.69

£0.69

£0.70

£0.80

Onions 1kg

£0.58

£0.50

£0.75

£0.59

£0.75

£0.75

£0.80

Cauliflower

£0.99

£0.68

£0.29

£1.00

£1.00

£1.00

Red Cabbage 600g

£0.36

£0.50

£0.69

£0.46

£0.43

£0.69

£0.47

Total

£4.66

£1.32

£5.68

£5.88

£6.19

£7.43

£4.96

£9.38

*3 for £1 offer at Morrisons on 8 veg in italics, which cuts prices to 33p a bag **600g parsnips at Aldi

***450g brussel sprouts at the Co-op ^1.5kg mini roasts at Lidl ^^2kg white potatoes at the Co-op and Waitrose

Correct as of 21 December 2017

Cut costs by making your own

As the cost of prepared frozen vegetables versus fresh versions showed, you pay extra for convenience.

Similarly, if you’re willing to make your own Yorkshire puddings, you can cut costs compared to Aunt Bessie’s best.

Yorkshire puddings made with a couple of eggs, 275ml milk, 80g value range flour and 50g lard only tot up to about 56p. That’s almost half the cost of the frozen ready-made version.

Now – over to you. Fancy the Co-op Christmas Meal Deal? Or do you prefer getting stuck into the peeling and cooking yourself? What else do you buy for your Christmas dinner? Do say in the comments, I’d love to hear!

Supermarket shopping lists in full

ASDA

ASDA Ready to Roast Turkey Breast Joint, 800g

£5.00

Aunt Bessie’s Crispy Homestyle Roast Potatoes, 800g (No McCains)

£1.00

Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshires, 220g

£1.00

Aunt Bessie’s Honey Glazed Parsnips, 500g

£1.00

ASDA Frozen Button Sprouts, 1kg (bigger)

£0.95

ASDA Garden Peas, 1kg (bigger)

£1.10

Mint Viennetta, 650 ml (smaller)

£1.00

ASDA Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix, 85g

£0.25

Total for ASDA

£11.30

Morrisons

Morrisons Butter Basted Turkey Breast Joint, 800g

£5.00

McCain Roasts, 1.4kg (bigger)

£2.00

Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshires, 220g

£1.00

Aunt Bessie’s Honey Glazed Parsnips, 500g

£1.00

Morrisons Frozen Button Sprouts, 1kg (bigger)

£1.00

Morrisons Garden Peas, 500g (bit bigger)

£0.78

Mint Viennetta, 650 ml (smaller)

£1.00

Morrisons Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix, 85g

£0.27

Total for Morrisons

£12.05

Tesco

Tesco Butter Basted Frozen Turkey Breast Joint, 780g

£5.00

McCain Roasts, 800g

£2.10

Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshires, 220g

£1.00

Aunt Bessie’s Honey Glazed Parsnips, 500g

£1.00

Tesco Frozen Button Brussel Sprouts, 1kg (bigger)

£1.10

Tesco Garden Peas, 1kg (bigger)

£1.30

Mint Viennetta, 650 ml (smaller)

£1.00

Tesco Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix, 85g

£0.25

Total for Tesco

£12.75

Sainsbury’s

Sainsbury’s British Basted Turkey Breast Joint, 800g

£7.00

McCain Roasts, 800g

£2.15

Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshires, 220g

£1.00

Aunt Bessie’s Honey Glazed Parsnips, 500g

£1.00

Sainsbury’s Frozen British Brussel Sprouts, 1kg (bigger)

£1.30

Sainsbury’s British Garden Peas, 910g (bigger)

£1.25

Mint Viennetta, 650 ml (smaller)

£1.00

Sainsbury’s Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix, 85g

£0.30

Total for Sainsbury’s

£15.00

Waitrose

Waitrose turkey crown with prime wing small, 2kg (much bigger)

£17.98

McCain Roasts, 800g

£1.50

Aunt Bessie’s 12 Golden Yorkshires, 220g

£1.55

Aunt Bessie’s Honey Glazed Parsnips, 500g

£1.50

Waitrose Essential Frozen Brussel Sprouts, 1kg (bigger)

£1.35

Waitrose Essential Garden Peas, 907g (bigger)*

£0.62

Vanilla Viennetta, 1000 ml

£1.75

Paxo Sage & Onion Stuffing Mix, 85g

£0.60

Total for Waitrose

£26.85

*Waitrose essential garden peas reduced from £1.25 when buying with the brussel sprouts

I’ve cooked turkey that was previously frozen, rather than fresh, before and don’t think any of us could tell the slightest difference. Not sure I’m up for a taste test of half a ton of mint Viennetta though – think some things are left safely in the 80s…

Wow, you’ve really put some work in here!
Not sure I would want a frozen Christmas dinner in its entirety but it’s certainly useful to have a selection of frozen veg in.
One thing that I find is pretty awful frozen, is carrots. Just doesn’t work for me.
Thanks for the comparisons

Yes do think some frozen veg work better than others – peas, sweetcorn and spinach are winners for me. Wasn’t overly impressed the one time we tried frozen roast potatoes. Otherwise I’d rather save cash with the fresh stuff, despite the peeling and chopping, and stick any leftovers in soup.

Goodness, it must have taken you an age to sort out all that lot! Well done, I had thought about the £10 meal deal, got it last year when we lived so close to a Co-op, but will manage without this year being home alone as I already have the veg in the freezer and the turkey thingy wasn’t my favourite way to eat meat.

Please can I pinch that comparison to share with pen friends in a penny pincher letter?

Hi Sue – I remember you getting the Co-op meal deal last year, and making the great point about the frozen food cutting food waste if people weren’t catering for a crowd.
More than welcome to share the comparison. If you’re able to mention my blog or include a link I’d be even more delighted!

Thank you, yes will give your site a mention. Mean meaning to ask – did you do a feature in a newspaper about a week of eating only local food……..several years ago now…………actually maybe it was before you moved to suffolk so probably wasn’t you!

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